GOP’s Nikki Haley Stands Up for an Imaginary America

Media are heralding South Carolina governor Nikki Haley’s Republican rebuttal to Obama’s State of the Union address. Haley’s call for the party to resist the “siren call of the angriest voices” was, according to AP (1/13/16), a message “of diversity and openness to immigrants that could answer the GOP establishment’s increasingly desperate search for an antidote to the loud pronouncements of presidential front-runner Donald Trump.”
The LA Times (1/12/16) cited her words that “no one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country,” noting that for those just noticing Haley, “she probably seemed like a voice of reason in a campaign that has often featured the opposite.”
And when Trump predictably attacked Haley as “weak on illegal immigration,” many outlets noted her remark, “I stand by what I believe.”
Nikki Haley (cc photo: Albert N. Milliron/Wikimedia)
Nikki Haley (cc photo: Albert N. Milliron/Wikimedia)
You might have wanted a little more detail, though, on what it is Haley apparently does believe, which, as Gawker (1/13/16) pointed out, is pretty weird. “When you’ve got immigrants who are coming here legally,” Haley told ABC News‘ Jonathan Karl (1/13/16), “we’ve never in the history of this country passed any laws or done anything based on race or religion. Let’s not start that now.”
The LA Times thought Haley’s showing in her rebuttal speech would have “implications for her future.” Maybe in the meanwhile, someone could help her brush up on the past.


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